The Trench Coat – Punk Fashion
The trench coat is an iconic fashion classic worn by army officers and royalty and conversely Hollywood femme fatales and world-weary and private eyes and … musicians and punks who probably incorporated the garment into their look probably without even thinking about it.
The roots of this iconic garment stem from the 1800’s and the Mackintosh (or mac) that kept water out but sweat in. Around the time of the First World War, technological advances and mass production meant new more breathable water-repellent fabrics came into play.
Companies such as Aquascutum and Burberry were formed using these fabrics and designed apparel which was picked up by the military. These clothes were developed into the classic trench coat design (the name points to its obvious use) which was worn by officers only who had to kit themselves and is still worn today. Check out the description below because the history of its design features is fascinating.
Trench coats were double-breasted and tailored to the waist, in keeping with the style of officers’ uniform. At the belted waist, it flared into a kind of knee-length skirt; this was short enough that it wouldn’t trail in the mud and wide enough to allow ease of movement, but still covered a significant portion of the body.
At the back, a small cape crosses the shoulders – an innovation taken from existing military-issue waterproof capes – encouraging water to slough off; at the front, there is a gun or storm flap at the shoulder, allowing for ventilation. The pockets are large and deep, useful for maps and other necessities. The straps at the cuffs of the raglan sleeves tighten, offering greater protection from the weather. The collar buttons at the neck, and this was for both protection from bad weather and poison gas, which was first used on a large scale in April 1915; gas masks could be tucked into the collar to make them more airtight. At the shoulders, straps bore epaulettes that indicated the rank of the wearer. Smithsonian
The cut and design had a certain type of glamour and swagger and the design carried on through the Second World War and was picked up by Hollywood. Humphrey Bogart (below left) famously wore an Aquascutum Kingsway trench in his Big Sleep & Casablanca. films Peter Sellers wore one as Inspector Clouseau.
In films it’s the staple wear of femme fatales, world-weary private eyes spies and lone wolves but ironically in real life royalty (Kings Charles above favours Burberry) and the rich.
But for punks in 1977 they wouldn’t have given a toss about the above. The trench coat design had been copied all over the world and coats were readily and cheaply available in second-hand stores like FLIP and army surplus stores (Laurence Corner Euston) that included East German and American GI trench coats. They were a great coat to keep warm and dry and hide being a punk.
FLIP sold mainly American clothing including baseball jackets, lumberjack shirts, 50s skirts, 501s, Hawaiian shirts, evening Dresses, waterproof Macs/trench coats to Western wear, and flying jackets. It had branches in Covent Garden, Newcastle and the Kings Road and a warehouse in Curtain Road, Shoreditch
Let’s take a look at some of those musicians then in the gallery below including Bowie (of course!), Steve Jones, The Automatics, Adam Ant, Howard Wall (Lurkers), The Unwanted, Ian Curtis, David Byrne and representing the ladies, Siouxsie (of course), Pauline Murray from Penetration and the one and only Ari Up of The Slits.
Says Glezos Uno, leading one time member of the infamous Gags punk band, Italian punk/music author and Adam & The Ants expert
Beautiful. In my Antz days the must-have trench coat was the German army one – even Adam [Ant] couldn’t find one! I was lucky, and still treasure it to this day. Here I am in Dalston, June 1979 – complete with German army trench coat.
Above left – Glezos (The Gags) Dalston London 1979 and right – Jeffrey Monday’s trenchcoat
Others such as Ian Curtis from Joy Division, captured below in an iconic photo, and David Byrne from Talking Heads wore the 1960’s American trench coat version.
And to finish off a band not normally appearing for their sartorial elegance – The Stranglers and Hugh Cornwell on the popular evening Music show Top Of The Pops watched by millions with the most unlikely hit record Nice ‘N’ Sleazy from 1978.
Above – Glezos Unos’s trenchcoat today!
This post inspired by Jeffrey Monday’s Facebook post on his trenchcoat November 2024
TalkPunk
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